Italy President Says Monti Can’t Run for Parliament in 2013

Nov. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Mario Monti can’t run
in elections due in 2013 as he already holds a permanent seat in
Parliament following his appointment as senator-for-life last
year, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano said.

A senator-for-life “cannot be a candidate to Parliament,”
Napolitano told reporters in Paris today in comments aired on
state-run television Rai News 24. Asked about any political
group running in the elections and proposing Monti as premier,
Napolitano said that after the vote “such a hypothetical party
would have to be consulted like all the others by the president
of the republic who has the role of appointing the new
government.”

Supporters of Monti, whose unelected government is backed
by a coalition of rival parties in the Rome-based Parliament,
started a political movement last week to push for a
continuation of his policies. Ferrari SpA Chairman Luca Cordero
di Montezemolo, who heads the movement, is throwing his weight
behind efforts by leading lawmakers aimed at getting Monti
reappointed as premier. Both Pier Ferdinando Casini, head of the
Union of Centrists, and Gianfranco Fini, the speaker of Italy’s
lower house of parliament, have repeatedly said they will run on
a platform of returning Monti to power.

Non-Partisan

“While the president’s words are not an impediment to any
political role of Monti, it looks like he’s inviting the premier
to keep a non-partisan status during the election campaign,”
said Roberto D’Alimonte, a professor of politics at Luiss
University in Rome. “This makes life definitely harder for
Monti’s supporters as they may need to find a different
leader.”

Napolitano, whose seven-year term expires in May, said
today that political parties could still offer Monti a role
after the vote.

“The President of Republic does not sponsor any specific
solution for the government” after the elections and the next
premier will be appointed following consultations between his
successor and political parties, Napolitano’s office said in an
e-mailed statement.

Italy’s general elections are due in April, though they
will probably be held in March. Napolitano said last week he
would consider holding the national ballot the same day as
regional voting on March 10 if parliament completes its
legislative agenda by passing the budget plan and new voting
rules.

Divisions

While the Senate is set to give final approval of the
budget law by the end of November, parties are still divided on
the overhaul of the election law. Under the current rules, known
as Porcellum or pigsty, parties or coalition of parties are
required to indicate the name of a candidate to be premier.

“Napolitano basically asked Monti to refrain from leading
any political grouping, whereas many in Italy hoped that he
could become the head of a future, broad political bloc linked
to the European Popular Party,” D’Alimonte said.

Confidence in Monti as premier rose one percentage point
this week to 36 percent, according to a Nov. 16 poll released by
SWG, down from a peak of 71 percent shortly after he came to
power a year ago.

Montezemolo’s new party would have 8.5 percent support of
voters, while Casini’s UDC party and Fini’s Future and Liberty
for Italy bloc would attract a combined 6.4 percent, the
Trieste-based institute said. That compares with 25 percent for
the leading Democratic Party and 14.8 percent for former premier
Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Liberty.